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Features
- The Magnificent Mariinsky
- Volga Dream
- Spooks in the City
- Leningrad Symphony
- Peter the Great
- Russian superstitions
- Lenintown
- Great Russian Beer Test
- Bridges of St. Petersburg
- Hermitage - the Ultimate Guide
- How Russians Say I do
- Russian People: Horsegirls
- Russian People: Babushkas
- Heroes of Russian Folklore: meet these homegrown favourite lads
- Children of the Revolution
- Chizhik & those Sphinxes: Quirky tales behind even quirkier statues
- Poor, paranoid Paul
- The Russian Banya
- Revolution!
- Great Russian Women
- The secrets of Russian caviar
- Caucasian cuisine – A taste of the South
- The Russian Kitchen
More features:
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Russian People: Babushkas
Russian women tend to outlive their male countrymen by quite a few years, which is why you see a lot more babushky (old women) than dedushky (old men) on the streets of St.... -
How Russians Say I do
As a tourist in St. Petersburg, it is sometimes difficult to avoid falling over the brides hovering around the city’s tourist sights posing for photos.... -
Bridges of St. Petersburg
When Peter the Great, that wonderful builder, founded the city, he envisaged a bridgeless city where everyone maneuvered around on boats in summer and in winter, cruising around on sleds.... -
The Russian Kitchen
Food in Russia is a serious business. No jokes please! We’re talking national pride here. Traditional Russian food is rich and stodgy peasant-fare from the village.... -
Volga Dream
A romantic and memorable trip down the Volga river from Moscow to St. Petersburg is the dream of many a foreign visitor to Russia.... -
Poor, paranoid Paul
Pushkin once called Paul the first, the Romantic Emperor, but readers may know of Paul (Pavel in Russian) as Poor Pavel.... -
Spooks in the City
Ah the romance of the canals and neo-classic buildings, the world’s best ballet and opera stars and museums filled with priceless works of art.... -
Caucasian cuisine – A taste of the South
One of the unquestionable pluses of St. Petersburg’s Soviet past is the sprinkling of restaurants serving cuisine from former USSR republics.... -
Great Russian Women
You can call them the pillars of Russian society: the Russian women. But most of them don’t stand in the foreground (men always take this place).... -
Russian superstitions
Russians are a very superstitious folk, they do a whole host of strange or unusual things to ward off the bad luck and welcome in a bit of good luck.... -
Revolution!
According to the old Russian style calendar, the revolution occurred in October, however with the new calendar, the Revolution date is celebrated on the 7th of November.... -
Great Russian Beer Test
Even the bears in Russia wander around swigging vodka, right? According to the stereotypes, in Russia it’s vodka straight up and nothing else.... -
The Magnificent Mariinsky
The historical MariinskyBack in the day, meaning the 1840s in this case, the first touring circus arrived in St....
Children of the Revolution
Revolutionary Names
Ever met a Ninel, Revmark or a Tacklis? Young Soviet citizens can thank their overzealous parents for their ingenious names, created anew in honour of the revolution. Sounding like the Russian equivalent of the unpopular name English name Nigel, Ninel is just Lenin spelt backwards. What about Revmark? Revmark is a combination of Revolutionary Marxism and Tacklis is a name created from the first initials of the phrase, Tactic of Lenin and Stalin. According to information from the Central Address Bureau, this practice peaked in 1925 – 1931. Naming children in such a way is not exactly new, but the Russian craze distinguishes itself by both the variety and ingenuity of the names they came up with. In the 2007 bittersweet Soviet comedy, Bei Vraga (Beat the Enemy), one character introduces himself as Radner. His full name turns out to be Raduisya Novoi Ere (Rejoicing in the new era)!. Er, thanks Mum and Dad! To mark the 90th anniversary of the Great October Revolution of 1917, In Your Pocket is taking a closer look at these inspired names and where some of them came from.
Allow me to introduce…
Names based around the initials of leaders were a good place to start. The name of the great Bolshevik leader, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, was recognised in names such as Vil or Vilen with Vilena for a girl and also Vladlen and Vladlena. Combining Marx Engels and Lenin together gave Marlen and Maels was created by taking the initials of Marx Engels Lenin and Stalin. A common Russian name ending was OR, signifying the October Revolution. It was common to add this OR on to the end of names giving Marlenor, Vilenor and Melor. In some cases, the Or could stand for Otets (Father) of the Revolution, as in Vilor - Vladimir Ilyich Lenin Otets of the Revolution. Stalen or Stalena, a combination of Stalin and Lenin, also found its way to some children. And after Lenin’s death, children of Russia carried his revolutionary message at all times, when they were named, Leundezh - Lenin Umer, No Ego Delo Zhivyot (Lenin is dead but his work lives on!) It’s almost too much for a young kid to live up to! Spare a thought for poor old Trotsky who was remembered by a name that sounds like a trolleybus, Trolebuzin coming from an amalgam of leaders’ initials - Trotsky, Lenin Bukharin and Zinoviev. On a more serious note, people bearing the name Ledavov (from Trotsky’s first names Lev Davidovich) were earmarked for a trip to the gulags.
Names based around the initials of leaders were a good place to start. The name of the great Bolshevik leader, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, was recognised in names such as Vil or Vilen with Vilena for a girl and also Vladlen and Vladlena. Combining Marx Engels and Lenin together gave Marlen and Maels was created by taking the initials of Marx Engels Lenin and Stalin. A common Russian name ending was OR, signifying the October Revolution. It was common to add this OR on to the end of names giving Marlenor, Vilenor and Melor. In some cases, the Or could stand for Otets (Father) of the Revolution, as in Vilor - Vladimir Ilyich Lenin Otets of the Revolution. Stalen or Stalena, a combination of Stalin and Lenin, also found its way to some children. And after Lenin’s death, children of Russia carried his revolutionary message at all times, when they were named, Leundezh - Lenin Umer, No Ego Delo Zhivyot (Lenin is dead but his work lives on!) It’s almost too much for a young kid to live up to! Spare a thought for poor old Trotsky who was remembered by a name that sounds like a trolleybus, Trolebuzin coming from an amalgam of leaders’ initials - Trotsky, Lenin Bukharin and Zinoviev. On a more serious note, people bearing the name Ledavov (from Trotsky’s first names Lev Davidovich) were earmarked for a trip to the gulags.
The First Tractor…
By far the most amusing name we have heard mentioned is Dazdrapetrak. Whether this name was actually bestowed on a lucky individual, remains to be seen. The name is formed from the initials of the phrase, Da Zdrastvyet Pervi Traktor, (Long Live the First Tractor!) The First Tractor is the title of a number of Soviet realist paintings that portrayed the start of Soviet collectivisation. The first Tractor in Russia was actually an imported American beauty, a Fordson. Simply the word October was also irresistible. Russian film maker Aleksey Balabanov‘s fathers was named October, and there are more than a few Octobrinas littered around the country. In fact it was at its most popular from 1925-1931. Idea and Era were two other male names among the most popular.
Who was Otto Schmidt?
Another gem among these made up names is Oyushminald for boys, and Oyushminalda for girls. Taken from the initials of the phrase; Otto Yulievich Schmidt Na L’du or Otto Schmidt on the Ice. Otto Schmidt was a Soviet scientist and celebrated Artic explorer. In 1937 he oversaw an airborne expedition that set up a drift-ice research station at the North Pole; the crew stayed there a year until Schmidt evacuated them. It is also interesting to note the female name Gertruda which was popular during Soviet times. Not a Russified version of Hamlet’s mother’s name but a combination of the two Russian words Geroi, meaning hero and Truda, meaning work or labour. Gertruda occupies the second most popular female revolutionary name after Octobrina.
And up into Space
This fashion although concentrated in the years of the 1920s and 1930s didn’t abate and even the cosmonauts got the naming treatment. New names appeared after the first flights into space, such as Vaterpezhekosma - Valentina Tereshkova - Pervi Zhenshina-Cosmonaut (First Female Cosmonaut). And another little pearl which talks about Yuri Gagarin, the first male cosmonaut, Uryurvkos - Ura! Yura V Cosmos (Hooray, Yura to Space!) An abbreviatory name of Yuri Gagarin’s initials (Yuri Aleksevich Gagarin) leads to the very dental sounding Yuralga!